Chris Cindric and Steve Roberts appeared at a candidate forum in October. Photo by Eric Blom

Incumbent Republican Steve Roberts held on to his District 2 Kansas Board of Education seat by taking 52 percent of the vote Tuesday.

With only two of the 234 precincts in Johnson County not counted by late Wednesday morning, Roberts had 76,049 votes to 71,338 votes for his Democrat challenger Chris Cindric. In Wyandotte County’s one precinct in District 2, Cindric beat Roberts by one vote, 13-12.

Roberts, who defines himself as a contrarian voice on the state school board, has been a lone dissenter on a number of votes.

Cindric, who spent 38 years in education, had the backing of a number of Johnson County pro-education groups. Roberts was backed by Kansans For Life.

Roberts told a forum in October that he currently drives a school bus for the Shawnee Mission School District.

Cindric Tuesday said the campaign was hard because most people she met did not know about the duties of the the state school board or its relevance to education in the state.